Earlier resisting arrest charge dismissed moments prior to man resisting arrest in court following Wednesday sentencing; dragged to ground by deputies

A Central Point man who made headlines in 2020 for using a dog “shock collar” on a 5-year-old girl as a form of punishment was back in court Wednesday on more serious charges involving sexual abuse of the girl’s older sister.

Mark Alan McSorley Jr. was sentenced to five years and 9 months prison time by Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Kelly Ravassipour on Wednesday after pleading guilty May 30 to two counts of first-degree attempted sexual abuse. 

Sentencing had been delayed at McSorley’s request to allow for medical appointments. McSorley’s 12-year-old victim — 7 years old at the time of the abuse in 2020 — was in court alongside her parents and a small group from Bikers Against Child Abuse, 7 Devils Chapter.

McSorley first became known to the family when he and his wife, Christina McSorley, became Department of Human Services-certified childcare providers and babysat the victim and her two sisters.

The couple was convicted in late 2020 for charges related to the dog collar incident; Mark McSorley was found guilty for third-degree assault and tampering with a witness and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, three years’ probation and was barred from being a childcare provider, while Christina McSorley pleaded no contest to one count of third-degree assault and received five days jail and bench probation.

Following the earlier case, the mother, in an interview with the Rogue Valley Times, said behaviors displayed by the girls led her to seek medical care, which revealed the sexual abuse that had taken place during the same time period.

Mark McSorley — arrested on the new charges in March 2023 but out on bail since his arrest — originally faced three counts of first-degree sexual abuse and one count of first-degree sodomy, but two of the charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal.

Christina McSorley and an older woman appeared in court Wednesday alongside McSorley and his service dog, which McSorley told the court he could not be separated from.
McSorley was belligerent and dismissive following a victim impact statement by the victim’s mother. Given the chance to address her daughter’s abuser, the mother read from a prepared statement, stating that McSorley and his wife had destroyed the family’s “sense of safety and community” and that the family had been “forever changed.”

“My daughters have suffered while in their care from being neglected, mentally abused, physically abused, repeatedly raped and sodomized and they have created chaos with ongoing court extensions,” the statement read. “The girls show signs of deep depression and finding joy is difficult.”

The mother said her daughters have nightmares and “days of disassociating, becoming withdrawn and isolated” and said the family had “moved through several different homes trying to find a place where they won’t show up.”

“It’s heartbreaking hearing that the girls don’t like their bodies because of what Mark McSorley did to them. They will have to deal with long-term medical effects from being given unknown forms of sedation and being exposed to sexually transmitted diseases. This is not something that any child should have to go through,” said the mother.

The mother voiced frustration with delays in the case and being “pushed to accept a reduced sentence on his terms while my daughters had their innocence and childhood forcibly taken from them.”

Given the chance to make a statement, McSorley replied that he had important medical appointments scheduled and suffers from mental health and other medical issues. He told the judge that he needed his service dog as well as “constant mental health assistance” and “physical health assistance,” noting, “Without those, I can guarantee I will be dead within 72 hours.”

Asked by the judge if he had anything to say about the case, he told the court, “To be honest, I didn’t do what I was accused of,” but said he agreed to the plea deal to avoid a longer prison sentence.

Ravassipour said there was “no excuse” for delays in the case and thanked the victim and her family for being in court, telling the young girl, “It takes a lot of courage to come into court in this environment and address the court and then confront the abuser. It takes a lot of courage to do that, so you are taking power back by just being here.”

McSorley balked when the judge discussed restitution, laughing while she spoke and saying he had “zero income ever” so that “the state can’t actually get anything.” When the judge ordered he be remanded into custody, McSorley yelled that his service dog was “not leaving” and demanded the three sheriff’s deputies and courtroom bailiffs to, “Get your hands off me! Get your hands off me! Get your hands f**king off me!”

Deputies wrestled a combative and screaming McSorley to the ground as a bailiff cleared the courtroom. The victim’s mother, following the proceeding, said her daughter was disappointed to have to leave before seeing McSorley taken away but took comfort in the fact that, the mother relayed, “that he finally got in trouble and was having consequences for what he did.”

“I don’t know if there are words to explain how we feel about the whole situation. It was a relief he was going back but it was also unbelievable,” said the mother.

“Just the audacity that he had. … My daughter said she was glad he showed everyone how he really is and she was glad she spoke up because she doesn’t want this to happen to other kids.”

McSorley’s wife, an older woman and the dog exited the courthouse about an hour later with the older woman declaring that McSorley “was innocent” and that the family planned to appeal the case.

Upon his release, McSorley will be required to register as a sex offender and submit a DNA sample.

At the beginning of Wednesday’s hearing, a related case of resisting arrest, from March 2023, was dismissed.

Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or buffy.pollock@rv-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.